Echoes: Notes & Signals by James StoneEchos

Issue with Cursor IDE Terminal and NVM

5 min read

Description:

When running Cursor IDE in agentic mode, when issuing commands it fails to recognize node or nvm.

Steps to correct:

  • Tried to correct via agentic mode, failed. tried patching .zshrc and stated that it is not opened
  • less context discussion with chatgpt plus about are other people having issues and what are possible solutions
  • argued a bit about solutions proposed by gpt to dig deeper into posible solutions

Possible Solutions

  • zsh -l setting added to cursor per chatgpt. Explains this is fragile (debatable) and could lead to slower loading times.
  • Swapping rvm out for asdf. This seems like a nice modern solution, and I might test that next. I am concerned that the -l tag will make short commands via the agent mode execute very slowly, as it seems to spawn new terminal sessions frequently. Every command or set of commands / prompt.

Next Steps

  • try -l solution and document more fully here. if it works, then move forward for today.
  • later or if above fails. try research asdf a bit more first, then try that. If works well replace rvm, pyenv, etc.

Interactive Shell solution

per chatgpt: In Cursor, go to Settings > Features > Terminal > Integrated > Shell Args (zsh) and set:~~~~[“-l”]

per chatgpt (shell args): In your settings.json (open it via Cmd + Shift + P → “Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)”), use the following:

"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.osx": "zsh",
"terminal.integrated.profiles.osx": {
  "zsh": {
    "path": "/bin/zsh",
    "args": ["-l"]
  }
}

For this solution for me, it then allows the default node set to be running, but NVM still does not execute and immediately cursor ide agent mode tries to patch it.

Moving on to solution 2

ADSF solution

Did a quick google search, didn’t see anything specific. Typical of modern Google searches. Query: asdf vs nvm vs code

Asking Claude 3.7 to compare from this list from the title of this article: # The Ultimate Guide to Node.js Version Managers: NVM, NVS, fnm, Volta, and asdf | Part 3 by Erik Harutyunyan (unread)

NVM, NVS, fnm, Volta, asdf

Quick chat (comparing Node.js) confirms to move forward with asdf. Will use cursor ide. for removing nvm and replacing with asdf.

30k view with cursor. Suggests backing up installed node versions. Here they are:

❯ nvm ls
       v14.21.3
       v16.13.2
       v16.14.2
       v16.20.2
       v18.12.0
       v18.17.1
       v18.18.2
       v18.19.1
       v18.20.4
        v20.9.0
       v20.11.1
       v20.16.0
       v20.18.0
->     v20.19.0
        v21.1.0
        v22.5.1
default -> 20.19.0 (-> v20.19.0)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
node -> stable (-> v22.5.1) (default)
stable -> 22.5 (-> v22.5.1) (default)
lts/* -> lts/jod (-> N/A)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.24.1 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.22.12 (-> N/A)
lts/fermium -> v14.21.3
lts/gallium -> v16.20.2
lts/hydrogen -> v18.20.7 (-> N/A)
lts/iron -> v20.19.0
lts/jod -> v22.14.0 (-> N/A)

Suggests to backup global npm installed packages. I had cursor build a script nvm-global-packages-inventory.sh and here is the output:

Global NPM Packages Inventory

Package NamePackage VersionNode Version 
capacitor-prototypes 1.0.0v16.14.2
cloc2.0.0v18.19.1
http-server14.1.1 v20.9.0 
nativescript 8.8.2 v20.18.0
netlify-cli17.37.1v20.16.0
node-gyp 9.4.0v18.18.2
plop 4.0.1v16.14.2
serve 14.2.1v18.18.2 
yarn1.22.0v16.20.2
yarn1.22.19v14.21.3, v18.17.1, v18.18.2, v20.9.0, v21.1.0, v22.14.0 
yarn 1.22.21v18.12.0
yarn1.22.22v16.14.2, v18.19.1, v20.16.0 
At a quick glance, not sure if I need any of these.

Removing RVM. Cursor agent fails so I manually edit my ~./zshrc

future-work: update My Terminal (dotfiles) to reflect removal of nvm

Installing asdf

luckily using a package manager and brew is suggested in the docs

brew install asdf

note to self: ironic the asdf for qwerty users. Maybe aoeu would make a nice project name or fork of the project.

brew suggests running brew cleanup asdf

zsh config

luckily same docs have zsh info. following only required for now. add to ~/.zshrc

export PATH="${ASDF_DATA_DIR:-$HOME/.asdf}/shims:$PATH"

I add a note to myself there and place it at the end of the file.

# ASDF package manager - replacement for nvm
export PATH="${ASDF_DATA_DIR:-$HOME/.asdf}/shims:$PATH"

which asdf and asdf commands succeed in iterm. also success in new cursor ide terminal.

How to install and source from the project

I don’t want to waste time. Lets see if there is a way to get asdf to install from the package engines setting. Asking chatgpt first.

step 1 - installing plugins, I can just assume this is for each language or package manager ecosystem

asdf plugin add nodejs
asdf plugin add yarn

Looked into automation from the package.json engines attr and found out that the team decided not to implement it since it defines a “range” of versions. Not sure why not to just install the latest version locally, but okay. It supports .nvmrc etc. through legacy mode but will skip that.

Installed the versions manually.

asdf install nodejs 16.20.2
asdf install yarn 1.22.19  # latest 1.22.x as of today

Ran into an error on the install, solution provided by chat-gpt

brew install gnupg
brew install gnu-tar
brew cleanup
brew doctor

Install above succeeds. Setting local.

asdf set nodejs 16.20.2
asdf set yarn 1.22.0
asdf set -u nodejs 16.20.2
asdf reshim

note: asdf reshim is important to run after making changes.

Result

Everything seems to be working on my local project at the moment so I will stop here. Confirmed to have the proper woking version of node and yarn both in iterm and cursor ide (required restart, terminal history feature also causes issues, new terminal sessions work okay)

Environment:

  • macosx 14
  • iterm
  • zsh
  • oh-my-zsh
  • cursor ide
  • nvm

Related Links

Automation: Update

Since it is low value, usually only once per project, I created the prompt Install package.json engines via Cursor IDE agent mode to install directly from the package.json engines section.

Graph View